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Celebrating our midwives
 The Trust’s Phoenix Midwifery team, which specialises in providing expert care to young parents aged 20 and under, has recently celebrated its fourth anniversary.
Though pregnancy rates for people aged under 18 have more than halved between 2011 and 2021, this age group can sometimes be challenged with additional complexities, including physical and mental health issues, and social difficulties. The Phoenix Midwifery team, which includes specialist midwives, a maternity support worker and a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, was therefore set up to provide specialist support to these young parents.
Through its work, the Phoenix Midwifery team has helped improve outcomes for babies - since the team's introduction in 2021, the rate of pre-term births has almost halved and the number of babies benefiting from an hour of skin to skin contact after birth has increased.
The team’s success was recognised as part of Monday's International Day of the Midwife, which celebrated the dedication of our midwifery teams and included a live interview by two MTW midwives on BBC Radio Kent (listen on BBC Sounds from 15:35 onwards).
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National award shortlisting for food waste initiative
 The Trust has been shortlisted in the ‘Food waste initiative of the year’ category at the Let’s Recycle Awards for Excellence in Recycling and Waste Management. The national awards celebrate outstanding achievements in environmental progress and sustainable practice, recognising projects in recycling, reuse and waste reduction.
Food waste contributes significantly to climate change, and is estimated to account for approximately 6% of the NHS’ carbon footprint. MTW’s shortlisted scheme introduced food waste segregation across Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells hospitals, helping to identify a range of measures that reduce food waste.
MTW prepares over 820,000 meals per year for patients, staff and visitors. By analysing food consumption and stock practices, the Trust has so far reduced food waste by 18% and increased recycling by 17% in just five months.
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Patient portal letters are going fully digital |
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 If you’ve already signed up to the patient portal, all your letters will be digital from Tuesday 13 May onwards. Up until now, if a letter on the portal had not been read within 72 hours then a hard copy was automatically sent out. This will stop on 13 May, with all users’ letters remaining on the digital platform and you will be kept up to date with push notifications, emails and reminders. All letters can still be printed at home if needed.
So far, the portal has avoided more than 200,000 letters from being printed and posted, saving a staggering 600,000 sheets of paper. The upcoming change will enable the Trust to reduce waste even further and make savings that can be reinvested into NHS services.
After going live just over a year ago, more than 165,000 people have registered for the Trust’s patient portal, and they can now view appointment details, appointment letters, clinical correspondence, discharge notifications and additional health information online. They can also easily cancel or re-schedule an appointment, all of which saves them time and avoids a call to hospital administration teams.
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Sharing best practice with national health chiefs
 Leaders from the Department of Health and Social Care recently visited Maidstone Hospital to learn more about how our systems support us to manage patient flow and make the best use of our beds.
Patient flow relates to a patient's journey through hospital, from arrival to discharge. Efficiently managing patient flow means that patients are seen in the right place at the right time, enabling us to treat more patients while reducing pressure in our emergency departments (EDs) and ensuring colleagues can prioritise those needing urgent care.
The guests were given a tour by the Trust’s ED, Virtual Ward and Care Co-ordination Centre teams, which included a visit to MTW's Same Day Emergency Care units, where patients can receive appropriate treatment and avoid ED. The visitors also learned about the West Kent Single Point of Access Hub, which supports paramedics on scene with a patient and directs them to the most appropriate service.
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Help shape the future of virtual care! |
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We’re looking for patient or public representatives to help us make sure virtual wards are working for everyone.
Running 24/7, our virtual wards help to treat patients in the comfort of their own home when they no longer need to be in a hospital bed but still need active monitoring. The patients regularly check in with personal or Trust-issued devices so that they can speak virtually to a team of clinical staff. Wearable devices also ensure their symptoms and condition are monitored in real-time.
As a patient or public representative, you will provide feedback to ensure virtual care is accessible, fair and effective for all. Your duties will take up to 12 hours over 12 months and involve joining group discussions with NHS staff and researchers, reviewing documents and sharing your thoughts.
You will be paid for your time, preparation and home working expenses. No research or clinical background is needed – just a willingness to speak up and help healthcare work better for everyone.
The opportunity is open to people from all backgrounds, especially those who have experience as a patient, carer or family member of someone who has a chronic respiratory disease, hypertension or who has needed NHS urgent or emergency care.
Interested in taking part? Email mtw-tr.innovation@nhs.net or call 07783 172053.
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"My limb difference doesn't stop me"
It is estimated around one million people in the UK are living with a limb difference. This includes amputations, congenital limb difference and malformed limbs.
People with disabilities can often face challenges and discrimination, and last month's Limb Loss and Limb Difference campaign aimed to raise awareness and educate people to create a more inclusive and friendly society for all. As part of the campaign, Paediatric Nurse Tammy Barrett, who is missing her left forearm, shared an insight into her experience as someone living and working with a limb difference.
"I’ve worked in the Children’s A&E Department at MTW for the last seven years. We see a lot of children with disabilities and whenever I’m asked about my arm - which is often, as children are inquisitive - I always try and give a really open and honest response that hopefully shows them you can achieve anything you want to.
"My limb difference doesn't stop me. I swim, run marathons, and cycle - in 2021, I ran three marathons on three consecutive Sundays to raise money for the Emergency Department, to help replace toys that were removed during lockdown. I compete in triathlons, I ski, I have four children, I run a home and drive a car."
Asked how things can be improved for people with a limb difference, Tammy said: "The more open we are, the less scared people will be to discuss diversity, whatever that looks like for them."
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Join MTW’s upcoming Board meeting
 Our next Trust Board meeting takes place on Thursday 29 May at 9.45am.
Members of the public and staff are welcome to join the meeting in person at the Education Centre in Tunbridge Wells Hospital, or online via Teams. The meeting link will be available on the Trust’s website from the start of that week.
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